


Situation Normal

by SnubbingApollo



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Hux is a grump, Hux's first name is Tyler, Hypothermia, I went all out on the tropes in this one ya'll, M/M, Ren is unconscious, Stranded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:24:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnubbingApollo/pseuds/SnubbingApollo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux hates the cold. <i>Almost</i> as much as he hates Ren. Unfortunately for him he's stranded with both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [I_Am_Your_Dentist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Am_Your_Dentist/gifts).



> A gift for Fuck-Arl-Eamon on Tumblr.

Hux hates the cold. He always has. The way it sinks into his bones and makes his lungs freeze with every breath and his skin hurt. So when he wakes cold and shivering, in what looks like a desolate frozen wasteland he’s hardly surprised. Irked, but not surprised. That’s the kind of week he’s been having.

He shuts off the infernal beeping of the escape pod on a combination of instinct and muscle memory, not even looking at the buttons. Every time he opens his eyes, a splitting wave of pain shoots through his head. Concussion, probably. Next to him Ren is lying unconscious, because of _course_ he is. Hux is going to have to drag his sorry ass to shelter. Perfect.

He opens the hatch and _immediately_ regrets it as a wave of cold air and snow assaults him. He groans again climbing out of the pod and carefully cracking his eyes open, just enough to see. There’s not much to see. A lot of snow, a lot of flat white landscape. In the distance there’s what looks like a cliff face and he supposes that’s their best bet. If he can figure out something to use as material he can construct a somewhat sturdy lean to and get them both dry and warm. They can’t go too far from the pod and its homing beacon, but they also can’t stay with it, not in this. He grabs the small pack of supplies that’s always included in these pods, slinging the strap over his shoulder. It won’t have anything actually useful in it like food or medicine but it’ll have a flint, some bandages, a canteen. The bare essentials.

He sighs and gets to work.

He ends up using his coat as a sort of makeshift sled, holding the sleeves and dragging Ren’s useless ass through the snow. It’s slow going, between the wind and the cold sinking in to Hux’s muscles and making every movement laborious. He can feel his legs starting to go numb up to the thigh and thinks he’s probably in stage one hypothermia. Ren’s most likely worse off without the movement to keep him warm. He has to find something to burn for a fire. He’s _not_ using his coat for that. He’ll use Ren’s stupid robes first.

The cliff face when he reaches it is disappointingly sheer for the first several hundred feet. He’s just about to give up hope and start looking for building materials when suddenly the rock falls away in an opening to a small cave. It’s nothing large and they’ll have to be uncomfortably close to each other, but he supposes with how cold it is that was an inevitable misfortune anyway.

“You,” he tells Ren’s unconscious body as he pulls him into the cave. “Are a _nuisance._ Do you hear me? A vexation. A curse upon my existence. A punishment for my no doubt many and varied sins.” He gives one last tug and finally manages to get the whole of Ren’s body into the small opening in the rock. He pins the sleeves of his coat into some jagged gaps in the rock face and sighs hoping it will keep out the wind. He needs something to use for fuel for a fire, and, hopefully, something edible. This world has breathable air there must be some kind of vegetation at least.

He picks a direction at random and begins walking, making sure to keep the cliff directly behind him. It’s a rather large landmark, so he’s too worried about getting lost, but it never hurts to take precautions. He does eventually stumble across something that looks like some sort of coniferous bush. The wood is green but it’ll burn with some convincing and he has nothing but time.

Ren is still unconscious when he gets back to the cave. He sighs irritably, and begins collecting his wood in a pile in the rough center of the cave setting a small circle of rocks around it.

“Figures, you know,” he mutters. “You sleeping through all the hard work. This will be going in my report.” His words are beginning to slur. Stage two hypothermia then. Lovely. He pauses in his work leaning across the distance to look Ren over. His lips are an alarming bluish color but he’s still shivering.

Hux sighs and pulls out the flint he’d taken from the escape pod. Time to see if he still remembers how to do this.

He does as it turns out. It takes him a number of tries so numerous he’ll never admit to it, but eventually there is a small fire lighting and heating their little refuge. That done he moves over to Ren.

“Alright, you self-important prick,” he mutters. “Where are you injured? Other than your face that is. What did you do, run into a wall?” A heated knife is more like it. The wound is jagged, moderately deep, and _cauterized._ At least it’s not bleeding. Hux looks the unconscious man over, finding what looks like a blaster wound to his side, and a smaller wound to his shoulder, also cauterized. He sighs heavily looking the blaster wound over. It’s the worst one by far, deep and still bleeding sluggishly.

Hux pulls the canteen out of his tiny bundle of supplies and scoops some of the snow from outside into it, using a bit of the twine form the pack to suspend it above the fire, letting it melt. That wound has to be cleaned.

He leans back against the wall of the cave glaring at Ren.

“I hope you know you owe me for this,” he tells him. “Perhaps I’ll make you take the blame for Starkiller. Snoke is going to be _so_ pleased when next we see him. I’m supposed to bring you to him, you know. I almost feel sorry for you.”

Silence.

“The least you could do is talk. I usually can’t get you to shut up.”

More silence. Hux makes a disgusted noise. At least the feeling is beginning to come back to his fingers. He holds them up in front of the fire, hoping to speed it along.

He _hates_ being cold.

The wound looks somewhat less distressing once it’s been cleaned and dressed. Despite that the man still looks strangely vulnerable. Perhaps it's because Hux isn;t used to seeing his face. Perhaps it's because, despite the fact that he knows Ren must be pushing thirty, that face looks oddly young. Hux sighs, shifting and shaking the thoughts away.

There’s nothing left to do that’s immediate enough that it’s worth risking more of the cold outside and Ren’s wounds have been taken care of. And now, he’s at loose ends. He gives a bitter laugh.

“The closest thing I’ve had to actual downtime in years and I get to spend it in this frozen wasteland, with _you_ ,” he mutters. He looks over at the other man, frowning when he sees how badly he’s shivering. It’s still cold in the cave, despite the meager fire. His coat is hardly an efficient door and the wind blows in where it doesn’t cover. He sighs.

He shifts carefully around the fire, moving to the other side of cave and manhandling Ren into his arms.

“If anyone ever finds out about this, I’ll save the resistance the trouble and shoot _myself_ in the head,” he grumbles, tucking the injured man close to his form. He sighs, allowing his eyes to flutter closed. Now that there’s a fire and… well… Ren, there’s much less chance of him not waking up if he lets himself fall asleep. 

That’s one way to pass the time anyway.


	2. Day Two

Hux wakes to the feel of something shifting against him. He blinks his eyes open, greeted by the shifting light of a fire. Ah, yes. They’re stranded in a frozen hell. Ren shifts again a noise escaping him this time and Hux looks down at him, just as his eyes flutter open.

“General?” Ren asks sounding confused and half asleep.

“Yes,” Hux answers. “So glad you’ve decided to join me.” Ren makes to sit up so he’s no longer leaning against Hux but only makes it half way before choking out a small noise of pain.

“Stop moving you idiot,” Hux says, pulling him gently back to a reclining position. “You’ve been shot.”

“Where are we?” Ren asks. There’s something off about his voice and it’s not just the lack of his synthesizer.

“I don’t know. Wherever the escape pod took us. The beacon is functioning. We shouldn’t be here long.”

Ren makes a disgruntled noise that dissolves into coughing. With a dawning sense of dread Hux pulls off one of his gloves and rests his hand on Ren’s forehead. The man is probably the warmest thing on this entire damn planet.

“You have a fever,” he says with a heavy sigh. “I know you enjoy dramatics, Ren, but just so you know you are allowed to do things halfway occasionally.”

“Please,” Ren mutters, face tucked into Hux’s shoulder. “You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if you weren’t dealing with my dramatics.” Hux gives a put upon sigh.

“I’d read. Spend my evenings with a cup of tea and a good book instead requisitions and expense reports for once.”

“You’d be bored.”

The most frustrating thing is Hux suspects Ren is right.

Ren isn’t awake for long. Considering how warm he’d felt to the touch, Hux is hardly surprised. He shifts out from under the man and uses the time to melt some more snow and gather wood for the fire. He doesn’t know enough about the plants he finds to know if any of them have medicinal uses but he does manage to find some berries that look as though the local fauna have been eating them, most likely not poisonous then, and cobble together a workable trap for said fauna. With any luck by the time he comes back there’ll be some real food for them.

Hux takes the newly melted water off the fire and sits next to Ren, nudging the man awake. He gets an angry grumble in response and scoffs a laugh.

“Get up. You need to drink something,” he says. Ren doesn’t move. “Get up or I’ll plug your nose and pour it down your throat.” Ren opens one eye to glare at him, struggling into enough of a sitting position to not choke. Hux helps him drink a few swallows of the water down and then sets it to the side.

“You should eat something as well,” he says.

“Later,” is Ren’s response. He’s already closed his eyes again. Hux sighs again, leaning back against the wall of the cave.

“I killed him.”

Hux nearly jumps at the sound of Ren’s voice. He’d thought the man was already asleep.

“Killed who?” he asks brow furrowed.

“My father.”

“Ah,” Hux says not really sure what else to say. He knew next to nothing about Ren, certainly not anything personal like his childhood or parentage. “Are you alright?” is what he finally settles on in the end.

“It had to be done,” Ren answers. He doesn’t sound like he believes it.

“I would have killed my father if the Republic hadn’t gotten to him first,” Hux says after a moment. He’s not sure why he’s saying this. Only that Ren is injured and sick and sounds… very lost. Vulnerable in a way Hux is _not_ used to hearing from him. He feels compelled to comfort him somehow and share something of himself in reciprocation. “He was executed for war crimes. Dreadful man, Brendol Hux. Mean when he was angry. Cold when he wasn't.” There’s a long moment of silence.

“My father was the kindest man I ever knew,” Ren says eventually. Hux frowns looking down at him. He looks if anything, more upset than he did a moment ago. 

“I should clean your wound,” Hux tells him, again at a loss for what to say. Ren simply nods and Hux reaches for the water. They’re both silent as Hux gently washes the wound and changes the bandage. It looks better than it did yesterday, but only marginally. He’s going to have to watch it carefully.

“I’m sorry,” he says as he secures the new bandage. “About your father.”

“So am I.” Ren says it in a whisper so small and quiet that Hux nearly misses it. Hux sighs and moves back to the back of the little cave. He lifts Ren carefully, moving so that he’s holding the man again.

“What are you doing?” Ren asks pulling against his hold.

“I’m cold,” Hux lies through his teeth. “Stop your ridiculous squirming and hold still. If I have to change that bandage again, I’m leaving you here when rescue comes.”

“Putting my fever to work for you then?” Ren asks. “Very mercenary of you, General.” He’s leaning into the hold though, eyes closed, and taking comfort from it in a way he probably hopes Hux hasn’t noticed. Hux ignores it, on the silent understanding that Ren never admit that he knows Hux is not doing this because he’s cold.

“Well, I am the one keeping you alive right now,” Hux points out. “Consider it payment.” Ren gave a small laugh.

“As you say, Hux.” With those words the man drifts off to sleep again, leaving Hux alone in the cave. He wishes he had that book. The tea wouldn't be remiss either.


	3. Day Three

Hux has caught something that resembles a rabbit. It’s not a rabbit, but Hux is going to refer to it as a rabbit so that he can ignore the fact that it has an extra set of legs. He’s cooking it when Ren wakes up again.

“How are you feeling?” Hux asks.

“Like I was shot and my wound is infected,” Ren grouses sitting up with difficulty. It’s on the tip of Hux’s tongue to tell him to lay back down and not be an idiot but if the man wants to aggravate an already infected wound that’s his own problem.

“Your wound isn’t _infected_ you’ve just caught a cold. In any case, there’s food now,” Hux says. “Or there will be soon.”

“My hero,” Ren says sarcastically.

“You’re damn right I am,” Hux spits back. “I could have left you to bleed out in the snow. Or let you freeze to death in the escape pod. Show some gratitude, Ren.”

“Kylo,” the man says simply.

“I beg your pardon?” Hux asks, removing the rabbit-thing from the fire.

“We’re alone, stranded on a random planet and you’re caring for my wounds. You might as well call me Kylo.”

Hux blinks, looking down at him. He sighs, pulling out his field knife and cutting portions out of the meat.

“I suppose you’ll expect me to reciprocate?” he asks. Kylo snorts.

“I’ve long since given up expecting you to do anything, General,” he says. Hux arches an eyebrow at that, but says nothing for a while. He hands Kylo his portion of the meat leaning back against the wall of the cave to eat. After a moment he sighs.

“Tyler,” he says, slowly. “My first name is Tyler and if you laugh, I’ll throw you outside to freeze.” Kylo bites his lip.

“ _Tyler?_ ” he asks. Hux sighs shaking his head.

“It could have been worse. I could have been named for my father. _Brendol_. What a dreadful name.”

Kylo falls silent and Hux looks over at him confused before wincing. He’d just killed his father. And was apparently quite upset about it. So what does Hux do? Talk about his father. Yes, well done.

“You should eat more than that,” he says. Kylo arches an eyebrow of his own.

“Worried about me _Tyler?_ ”

“I’m going to regret telling you that, I can see it now,” Hux murmurs. “Leader Snoke ordered me to bring you to him. I’m fairly certain I _could_ come up with a suitable excuse for why I let you die of a _fever_ of all things, but I’d rather not have to.” Truth be told he was more concerned about explaining the destruction of Starkiller. 

Kylo gives a dismissive huff, but he eats more, so Hux counts it as a success.

“Are you still feeling feverish?” he asks. Kylo frowns, setting aside the food he didn’t eat. There’s more left than Hux would like, not least because of the damn effort he put into catching and preparing the thing, but he doesn’t say anything.

“A little,” Kylo tells him, which Hux knows means he’s probably miserable. For all Kylo’s tendency towards dramatics he’s notorious for downplaying his own discomforts. Hux sighs moving over to sit next to the man, who’s watching him warily now.

“Relax, Re- Kylo,” Hux says rolling his eyes. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve already eaten. I’m not going to bite you.” Kylo laughed quietly the sound dissolving into coughs. Hux sighs, shifting to wrap his arms around the other man.

“Get some rest,” he tells him. “We shouldn’t be here too much longer.”

“If you keep this up,” Kylo teases. “I’m going to start thinking you’re sweet on me, Tyler.”

“For once in your life, will you shut up?” Hux shoots back, pulling Ren closer. The man has started shivering again and didn’t feel the need to say anything. Hux expects another quip but Kylo is already asleep. The General sighs, looking down at his flushed face. This is _not_ ideal.


End file.
